Postmillennialism is essentially the eschatological belief that the Millenium is occurring right now. This belief holds that the world will see a steady improvement and that the Great Commission will be fulfilled before Christ's Second Coming. Every nation will be under His dominion through the preaching of the gospel. Jesus' reign has already been realized in the first century, and much of the book of Revelation has been fulfilled in the first century. The believers of this age usher in Christ, eager to present to Him a conquered world. There is much more to it, so if you're interested, read this introductory book.
I grew up in a church that is highly dispensationalist. Thus, everything I heard about Eschatology is from a dispensationalist, pre-trip, premillennial perspective. Recently, I discovered that other Eschatological views made more sense than what I initially thought. Learning time!
Overview
In Victory In Jesus, Bahnsen sets out to give a defense of Postmillennialism. The first part of the book is recorded lectures given by Bahnsen. They serve as an introductory argument for postmillennialism. In this section, you will learn what Postmillennialism is, how it differs from other views, and a defense made from the Bible for its legitimacy. This section is written in a very easy-to-read tone.
The second section is Bahnsen's writing on the history of postmillennialism. In this section, Bahnsen seeks to make a historical defense of Postmillennialism by showcasing its strong historical heritage and support. This section is far more technical and comprehensive. I largely skipped over this part because it wasn't immediately relevant to what I was curious about.
The third section is an explanation of the person and works of Satan in the church age (which is the millennium according to Postmillennialists). This section is probably the most comprehensive discussion of this topic I have ever read.
Why Read This?
As mentioned earlier, this is an introductory text and is fairly easy to read. Bahnsen does a great job at showing the reader what Postmillennialism is without destroying us with jargon. The book is well-researched and well-defended with scripture. Anyone who is interested in beginning to learn about Postmillennialism will benefit well from this introductory text.
One thing that really attracts me to Postmillennialism is its optimism about the future. In Postmillennialism, we can expect things to get better and better until the devil is released one last time for a short time. We can also expect to see all the nations being made subject to God through the preaching of the gospel. This gives me hope and assures me that my work for the Kingdom can be realized. Many who hold the pretribulation rapture view (I pick on them because I am still somewhat in this camp) just decide to retreat into their own little bubble because they believe that the world is hopeless and we are just waiting to be helicoptered out when things get too bad. What a defeatist attitude! Yet it is certainly understandable to just cower until it's all over if you KNOW that things will never get better! It is because of this that I believe postmillennialism will produce more workers for the advancement of God's Kingdom on Earth.
Potential Pitfalls
I have discovered that every end times view will accuse one another of "jumping hoops". Postmillennialism is no different, I see a lot of hoops that one will have to hop through to make it work, just as I see it in other interpretations.
Eschatology and its related Bible verses are very difficult to interpret, especially if one is trying to figure out what is figurative and what is not. So this is a caution about anything related to this field: we simply cannot claim to know everything about it at this current moment in time. Perhaps one day we will gain a clear understanding, but right now things are foggy. Yet this does not mean there aren't areas of clarity. Be open-minded, don't be so quick to hop on one bandwagon, and remember this is not a primary issue.
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